The project proposed is to begin archival work on the history of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands of the seventeenth century. It thus explores some of the possible connections between the "scientific revolution" and the Dutch "golden age." Such an exploration will have an impact in two academic areas and possibly reach a larger public. In the academic sphere the project will: 1) make available in English a strong argument for the international importance of Dutch science and medicine in the seventeenth century, something too often overlooked in favor of a story told in terms of English/French/Italian achievements; 2) it will advance an argument for the central importance of "natural historical" investigations rather than simply natural philosophical ones in the creation of the scientific revolution. Beyond the academic realm of the history of medicine and science, an account of the rise of Dutch natural history and medicine may have some appeal to a larger public. The monograph arising from such a study will be well illustrated. and written so as to be approachable by the kinds of people who have recently taken to works by Svetlana Alpers and Simon Schama.